This weekend, artists and patrons alike will flock to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) craft fair to sell and buy paintings, sculptures, and more. Among the stands, you’ll find a table with towering vases and charming mugs, manned by a charismatic potter named Dwo Wen Chen.
Today, Chen runs a studio and shop on Wickenden Street, and has sold his work at the prestigious Smithsonian Art Show in Washington, D.C. But two decades ago, at the same fair, Chen was a struggling RISD graduate on the brink of a change.
We sat down with Chen to learn about his unique artistic journey.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more, watch our segment for Rhode Island PBS Weekly.
ISABELLA JIBILIAN: What was your home like growing up?
DWO WEN CHEN: I grew up in Taiwan in a really small farming village. It was idyllic. We have open sewers with guppies swimming in it, and we did not have any video games or toys to speak of. So, we had to create our own toys. One of the things we used to do was pinch clay pots. At the time I didn’t know it was clay, it was just mud from the rice field. We would pinch it and then slam it on the ground, to see whose pot created the biggest hole. That was our game.
JIBILIAN: What kind of art did you spend most of your life doing before pottery?
CHEN: I have always been a painter, and even at RISD, my concentration was in painting. I never thought that I would become a potter.
JIBILIAN: Why did you become a potter?
CHEN: Out of necessity! So at the RISD Street Fair, I couldn’t sell any of my paintings, but I managed to sell all of my, at that time, very rudimentary pinch pots. So I thought there was probably a future in the pottery-making for me.
JIBILIAN: What is it about working with clay that feels different from other mediums?
CHEN: Clay is such a versatile material. From a lump of nothing you can create this functional or a sculptural work, and I think it’s magic.
JIBILIAN: What were some of your artistic influences over the years?
CHEN: There are two major influences. One is a street vendor, a street potter. He’s got a little stall outside of the East Gate temple in Kyoto. He makes the most exquisite pottery at a very low price. His work would be put on pedestals to be admired in any Western gallery. But in this wonderful street vending setting, he’s making something that people can easily purchase and take home to use in their everyday life.
The second influence is Linda Christianson, who’s a Minnesotan potter. She had such an earthy take on pottery making. It’s so tactile, and the way the shape is formed is so organic. That’s very inspiring.
JIBILIAN: You are influenced by Eastern and Western traditions.
CHEN: It’s a constant struggle. I remember at the younger age, being in Western art education, I was trying to disguise my Eastern heritage. I was trying to fit in, trying to be part of the Bauhaus that movement prevalent in RISD education. And then I graduated. And now, in any of my creations, my heritage just naturally comes through and that’s when I am most comfortable with my work. I learned not to fight it, instead trying to find a way to combine it to find a good balance between the two.
JIBILIAN: In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between Eastern and Western styles of pottery?
CHEN: The scale of the pottery. In Japanese pottery, I’ve noticed it’s always much smaller in scale. It’s easier to hold in people’s hands. And while in the Western culture, we tend to make things that’s a lot grander in scale, a lot more of decorations on it, a lot more impressive. Meanwhile, the Eastern pottery is a lot more subtle. They’re meant to make things that people can easily fit into their small houses.
JIBILIAN: There’s a debate about whether pottery is considered “art” or “craft.” What are your thoughts?
CHEN: My understanding of pottery is we’re creating something that people can use in their everyday life. It’s a small pleasure to enhance somebody’s daily life, and for me, that’s art enough. It’s not something grandiose. It is rooted in ancient traditions. Even with very rudimentary decorations, you can make something that when you use it in your daily life, it just brings you joy.
Dwo Wen Chen will be exhibiting his work at the RISD Craft fair, on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Benefit Street in Providence. For a look inside his studio, watch our story for Rhode Island PBS Weekly here:
